Engineers had to balance the advantages and disadvantages of tower height and cable size in the final design of the Golden Gate Bridge. When completed in 1937, the Bridge had the tallest bridge towers in the world.

Making them considerably taller to reduce the tension (pulling) force in the cables would have been a more difficult and expensive design alternative.

This exhibit allows the visitor the opportunity to pull each of the ropes to find the relationship between tower height and cable tension. The more tension, the thicker (stronger) the cable must be.